MARCH 16, 2001

Frentzen clarifies traction debate

HAVING voiced his opinions on the arrival of traction control into Formula One, Heinz-Harald Frentzen believes the arrival of the driver aid will be negative for the sport.

The Jordan driver spoke out when he suggested that Sauber used a driver aid in Melbourne two weeks ago, but he has now moved to clarify his comments and said that it is legal to run traction control devices to a certain extent.

However, he has always been a critic of traction control, and he is not keen on the return of currently banned reactive devices in the fifth race this season.

"I always said I was upset about it because I like to race with a normal system that allows the driver to control the car by itself," said Frentzen.

"And most of the drivers are of the same spirit," he continued. "This is the spirit of the sport and it should be in the future."

But Frentzen does understand the predicament the FIA is in, and believes that it is very difficult to decide what is legal and what is illegal.

"Now there are so many possibilities that you can have a system 100 per cent legal," said Frentzen. "Now is the time to say where is it legal and this is the job of the FIA.

"But I believe we should one day get rid of all this s**t and drive normally and that would be my wish in F1 for the future."